president obama and republican candidate mitt romney face off in denver tonight for the first debate of the presidential campaign. on tuesday, vice-president joe biden drew ridicule from republicans after saying the middle-class has been buried the last four years. although biden was referring to the effects of the financial crisis that began under the bush administration, paul ryan seized on the remarks as an admission of failure. this is deadly earnest. how they can justify, how can they justify raising taxes on the middle class? the middle-class has been buried last four years. how, in lord's name, can they justify raising taxes? >> vice-president biden today said that the middle-class over the last of we or years has been buried. we agree. that means we need to stop digging, which means we have to collect mitt romney as president of the united states. >> meanwhile, paul ryan has appeared in videos online. in a speech delivered last november, he said 30% of americans want to live off the government. today, 70% of americans get more benefit from the federal government and a payback